


Second Star to the Right

by Sotheylived



Series: Follower Appreciation [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Prompt Fill, bed sharing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 06:59:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9111589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sotheylived/pseuds/Sotheylived
Summary: Emma can’t sleep on the flight back from Neverland.





	

She climbed up out onto the deck and breathed in the salty sea air. The night was dark and cloudy. Though they were high enough that the bow of the ship parted clouds like waves, leaving nothing more than thick puffs of air in their wake. She’d left her shoes in the cabin, but couldn’t find it in herself to care, not with the rough wood beneath her feet anchoring her to reality when she was soaring among the stars. 

Walking over to the edge of the ship, Emma’s bare feet were silent save for the occasional groan of ancient wood. The deck was bathed in moonlight giving the ship an almost ethereal glow. Hook stood towards the back, hand lazily draped over the wheel and head tilted back to gaze at the sky. 

“Thanks,” Emma said, voice too loud and brash for the quiet night. “Thanks,” she said again, softer. “For everything - for coming with us. I don’t know if we would’ve been able to -“ 

Killian turned away from the sky to look at her. A small smile turned his lips, one so different from the teasing smirk he plastered on like a soldier would his armor, that Emma’s breath was stolen away. He walked down the stairs to meet her in the middle of the ship, wheel staying steady from the earlier enchantments laid upon it. 

“There’s no thanks necessary,” he said, finally reaching her. “Why aren’t you downstairs asleep with the others?" 

How could she say that her head was buzzing with the thought _wrong, wrong, wrong_ about the son she’d only just gotten back? How could she say that she knew her parents thought Neal’s return was fate and would try to push the two of them together? How could she say that she didn’t want to sleep when she knew he was awake? How could she say any of it to him when she couldn’t even say it to herself? 

Emma shrugged. "I could ask the same of you." 

Killian laughed softly.

"Can I show you something,” he asked, reaching out for her hand. 

Emma grasped his outstretched fingers tentatively as Killian led her back up to behind the wheel. He sat down behind the wheel and tugged gently on Emma’s arm to get her to do the same. 

“Look up,” he said, nudging her in the arm once she’d sat down.  

Emma glanced at him before tilting her head back to look at the sky. She hadn’t really noticed since she stepped on the deck, too preoccupied with looking ahead to see the stars all around her. It was breathtaking. 

The stars were like nothing she’d ever seen before. They were close and clear enough to see the swirling purple and blue of far off galaxies dusted with white, a thousand million stars closer than she’d ever seen before. A single star streaked across the sky, bright and hot, falling forever. Emma glanced at Killian. His gaze flicked away from her, head turning skyward with pink tingeing his cheeks. 

“I spent many a sleepless nights in Neverland,” Killian said, laying back onto the wood of the deck with his arm stretched out in a silent invitation. 

One that Emma would never accept in the light of day. But in the dead of night, she found herself settling back against him. Head pillowed against his arm close enough to his neck that she could feel the occasional puff of breath flutter her hair. 

“The place is no paradise and I’m not the biggest fan of magic,” he said and Emma snorted. “I used to think there was only one kind of magic. The kind that ripped families apart and led to death and destruction. But on some clear nights, like this,” he continued, shoulder twitching under Emma’s head in an aborted shrug. “I can understand why some people choose to believe in good magic.”    
They were both silent for a long moment, watching the slow turn of the galaxies around them.

“Do you think you’ll stop believing in good magic?” Emma whispered, shivering slightly as a cloud puffed up and over the bow of the ship, rolling over them in a wisp of the cool night air. “Now that you won’t have this as a reminder." 

"No,” Killian said, fingertips tracing nonsensical patterns against the bare skin of her arm. “I don’t need the stars to remind me." 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second to last prompt I have to fill for my follower appreciation. Thank you so much for reading, liking, and commenting.


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